Apologizes. I meant that hypothetically. I wasn't speculating - I know Discovery has already been planned out - or, at least the first season has.
Starfleet as the Military...
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Apologizes. I meant that hypothetically. I wasn't speculating - I know Discovery has already been planned out - or, at least the first season has.
My sense was that Starfleet was always Multi-purpose, its main aim was exploration but ultimately, and especially as the Federation grew exponentially as was proved very early on during the Earth-Romulan war, it's a potentially hostile universe out there and so their exploration ships also had to be ready for a fight.
Starfleet at its very core, is the embodiment of what an advanced societies "military" should be about.
You know on political forums when I hear things about "The military is about two things, killing people and breaking stuff" I just have to roll my eyes.
The Military of a nation is for defense and offense when necessary sure, but it is also to further the national interest where necessary, whether that's disaster relief, peacekeeping etc, now the key there is the mission and it's aim must be well defined so don't think I'm saying they can also be used for whatever.
In this way Starfleet has three main aspects to its duties.
1. Defense: of the Federation, its allies and its interests, with force if necessary.
2. Exploration and knowledge accumulation.
3. What goes with 2. is diplomatic functions in all cases, which is why its prime directive is central to Starfleet philosophy.
This I think sums up for me.
Starfleet at its very core, is the embodiment of what an advanced societies "military" should be about.
You know on political forums when I hear things about "The military is about two things, killing people and breaking stuff" I just have to roll my eyes.
The Military of a nation is for defense and offense when necessary sure, but it is also to further the national interest where necessary, whether that's disaster relief, peacekeeping etc, now the key there is the mission and it's aim must be well defined so don't think I'm saying they can also be used for whatever.
In this way Starfleet has three main aspects to its duties.
1. Defense: of the Federation, its allies and its interests, with force if necessary.
2. Exploration and knowledge accumulation.
3. What goes with 2. is diplomatic functions in all cases, which is why its prime directive is central to Starfleet philosophy.
This I think sums up for me.
It does not matter if Starfleet claims its purpose to be "exploration". Being an armed force of ships with JAG, court-martial and active duty, which are terms unique to militaries, and the only means of the Federation's defense, makes it a navy and a military organization by definition and by its actions.
Classifying Starfleet as a non-military organization is either a lie or a throwback to the distant past when a navy used to be defined as a separate organization from a military, where military essentially meant foot soldiers. MACO is a prime example of such regression or retrogression. By the modern definition, a navy, as an armed force, always denotes a military fleet.
Check the Mass Effect franchise. It's Bioware's take on Star Trek without having to deal with its "baggage" and licensing fees. It has something called Systems Alliance:
Sound familiar? However, in the dialogue, they refer to its own star fleet as "the Alliance military" while claiming its purpose as "exploration". The prime example is the latest game in the series titled "Mass Effect Andromeda". Search YouTube for "Mass Effect Andromeda walkthrough" and see for yourself.
Classifying Starfleet as a non-military organization is either a lie or a throwback to the distant past when a navy used to be defined as a separate organization from a military, where military essentially meant foot soldiers. MACO is a prime example of such regression or retrogression. By the modern definition, a navy, as an armed force, always denotes a military fleet.
Check the Mass Effect franchise. It's Bioware's take on Star Trek without having to deal with its "baggage" and licensing fees. It has something called Systems Alliance:
The Systems Alliance is the representative body of Earth and all human colonies in Citadel space. Backed by Earth's most powerful nations, the Alliance has become humanity's military, exploratory, and economic spearhead.
Sound familiar? However, in the dialogue, they refer to its own star fleet as "the Alliance military" while claiming its purpose as "exploration". The prime example is the latest game in the series titled "Mass Effect Andromeda". Search YouTube for "Mass Effect Andromeda walkthrough" and see for yourself.
This has been discussed to death in the General Trek forum. I don't think it's going to get us anywhere to continue that by resurrecting this thread here after it's been dormant for almost five months.
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